Automatic stop



July 7, 1925.

F. OBERST AUTOMATI STOP Filed Feb. 2l, 1923 lli).

Patented J uly 7, 1925.

, 1,544,851 PATENT OFFICE.

FRANKj ORERsi, VorV NEWk YORK, `N. Y., `AssiGfNoR, BY iviiisNE ASSIGNMENTS, 'ro

sONORA PHONOGRAPH COMPANY, INC., A CORPORATION OE NEW YORK.

AUTOMATIC STOP.

Application led February 21, 1923. Serial N'o. 620,471.

To all whom t may concern: f

VBe it known that I, FRANKl Onns'i, a subJect of the Kingdom of Rumania, and

a resident of the borough of Queena-countyVV of Queens, State of New` York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Automatic Stops, of which the fol-v lowing is a specification.

This invention relates to automatic stops for phonographs and is designed to stop the rotation of the turntable when a record has been played completely. It is the object of this invention to provide a stop of the type described, which is simple in construction,

comprises a minimum number of parts, an

is certain in its operation. y

Records differ in the size of the unrecorded space, and it is therefore necessary to provide for stopping the turntable when the tone arm is at various distances from the center of the record and turntable. For

this purpose, this invention contemplates the provision Vof an adjustable member adapted to be carried by the tone armi and capable of being adjusted for various sized records, and which is adapted to operate the stop mechanism when the needle reaches the. innermost recording groove ofa record ir- I scribed in the following specification andV illustrated in the accompanying drawings, considered together or separately.

The inventive idea involved yis capable Vof receiving a variety of mechanical expressions, some of which, for the purpose of illustration, are shown in the accompanying drawings.

The invention will first be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, illustrating one embodiment of the invention,` wherein similarreference charyacters are used to designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and then more specifically defined andk indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings 'Y i Fig. 1 is a plan view of the phonograph showing a record in position upon the turn` table, the tone arm in the innermost groove of the record, and the relative positions of the automatic stop and stop actuating means.

. Fig.v 2 is an enlarged view ofthe stop mechanism per se, showing the stop in eifective and ineffective positions.

Fig. 3 is an end View of the stop mechanism showing a portion ofthe turntable in section.

Fig. 4 is a plan viewof a portion of the tone arm showing the stop actuating means in position thereon. i

F ig.V 5 is an end Vview. of the device shown in Fig. 4:.

`lteferring to the drawings, there is shown a phonograph comprising a casing 1() and a turntable 11 having a record 12 thereon. The impressed portion of said record is provided with spiral grooves and enclosed between the outermost groove Oi' circle of impressions or spiral grooves 13 and the innermostgroove Or circle of impressions and. stylus 17 adapted to operate in the grooves of the record. yThe turntable is mounted'upon a spindle 20 adapted to be driven by springlmotor (not shown). Saidmotor normally tendsv to rotate the turntable aslong as lthe spring is under any tension, andV in Order to stop the turntable either` manually or automatically, there is provided the stop mechanism shown encomprises a friction member in the form of a lever 25 pivoted, upon a plate 26 at 2T, said plate 26 being fixed to the motorboard 30 in any suitable manner, as by screws passing through openings 31. 'I he lever 25 is provided with an arm 32 which carries a friction member such as a felt pad 33 at its e1id, so that as the lever 25 is moved clockwise to the dotted line positioned in Fig. 2, the friction member will engage the depending flange 35 of the turntable to prevent rotation, and when said lever 25 is moved in the Oppositedirection to the full line position in Fig. 2,- said turntable will be free to rotate. The lever 25 is normally urged incloclrwise direction by means of a spring 36 fixed at one end to anl arm 37 integral with said lever 25, said spring being fixedl at its other end to a projection 38v upon a pawl member or leverl 110 pivoted larged in Fig. 2. Said stop mechanism?o Cil par

upon plate 2G at d1. Said spring normally tends to rotate lever ll-O in a'cl'oclrwise direction to move a pawl ll2 at one end of lever 40 into engagement with an arcuate surface 43 at the adjacent end of lever 25, said arcuate surface being provided with anotch t5 into which said pawl Al2 is adapted to lodge when said lever 25 is moved counterclockwise to the ineffective position.V Since the spring 3G normally tends to rotate mem-- ber 40' clockwise, the pawl 42 will be maintained in contact with arcuate surface t3 and when said lever 25" is moved to ineffective position against the action of said spring 3G, the pawl 42 will be forced into the notch L5 to lock said lever 25 in ineffective position to permit the turntable to rotate freely. The edge of the pawl l2, which engages the lever 25 to hold it in ineffective position, is slightly beveled or cammed as shown at at), so that by applying manual force to turn the lever 25 clockwise, the

pawl can be cammed outwardly, that is,

to rotate .lever -l-O counterclocl-:wise against the action of spring 36 and permit member 33 to engage flange 35-`and stop the rotation of the turntable.

vThe releasing of friction member 33 from ineffective position to stop the rotation of the turntable, may be accomplished automatically when a record has been complete-ly played, by extending pawl member at) rearwardly beyond the turntable, and providing it with a stop or pin in the path of the tone arm, so that when the stylus l? is op'- erating in the innermost groove of the record, the arm will engage stop 50 and rotate pawl member 4t() countercloclrwise to release pawl t2 from groove 45 and enable the mem-ber 33 to stop the rotation of the turntable. lt will be apparent that but a very slight movement of pawl member l0 is necessary to release pawl 42, that shown in the drawing between the full line and the dotted line positions in Fig. 2 being ample for the purpose. lf the` pin 50 were in each case to be engaged by the tone arm proper, it is quite apparent that the various records having different central smooth or unrecorded portions between the axis of the spindle and the innermost groove, would not be effective in all cases, and would stop the turntable in many cases too soon, and in other cases, not soon enough. For this purpo-se, there is provided an adjustable member carried by the tone arm, which can be so set before the record is played, as to engage pin 50l at the proper time, regardless of the distance from the center of the innermost groove o-f the reco-rd. F or this purpose, the tone arm is provided with a lug 52 in which is pivotally and frictionally mounted an arm 53 having a bent-off portion 54 enabling it to extend downwardly to a point below theturntable. lt is quite obvious that by properly posii,544,e57 Y tioning the arm 53 relative to the pin 50, the automatic stop mechanism may be operated at will in any position of the stylus "17. Since the arm 53 operates below the turntable and may in some cases be inaccessible because positioned temporarily be` nea-th the tone arm, there is provided on the motor board 30 a stop 56 in the path of arm 53'-, so' that if said tone arm is moved outwardly (rearwardly to the dotted line position in Fig. 1) -before setting, said'arm 53 will engage pin 56 and be held in that position while the tone arm moves be-V reaches the innermost groove 1l the' arm will engage pin 50 to operate the stop mechanism. The tone arm is then lifted olf, the turntable is allowed to rotate by operating lever 25 and the stylus 17 is placed in the outermost groove 13. lt is apparent thatwhen the' record has been played until stylus 17 is in the last groove, arm 53 will contact with pin 50 to rotate the pawl member slightly counterclockwisev and actuate the stop mechanism.

Upon plate 26 is provided anu'pstanding lug 60 through which passes an adjustable set screw 61 adapted to contact with an upstandi'ng lug 62A upon pawl member ttl when said pawl member ismoved counterclockwise a predetermined distance, thus limiting the countercloclwise movement of lever 40' and preventing undue stretching of'spring 36.

In accordance with the provisions of the Patent Statute, 1 have described the principle of my invention together with theA ap'- paratus which 1 now consider' to represent the best embodiment thereof, but l desire it understood that my invention is not confined to the particular form of apparatus herein shown and described, the same being merely illustrative, and that the invention can be carried out in otherv ways without departing from the spirit of my invention, and, therefore, I claim broadly t-he righ-t to employ all equivalent instrumental-ities coming` within the scope of the appended claims, and by means of which objects of my invention are attained, and the new Vresults accomplished, as herein set forth, as it is obvious that the particular embodiment-s herein shown and described are only some of many swinging tone arm, a turntable to carryV records anda motor' to revolve said turntable, an automatic stop comprising a pivoted friction member adapted to make contact with said turntable to prevent rotation thereof, means tending to rotate said friction member to effective position, a pivoted paWl engaging said friction member to hold said friction member in ineffective position, means traveling with the tone arm and adapted to engage said pawlto cause it to release said friction men'iber, and means to liold said engaging member away from the tone arm when the latter is in its initial playing position.

2. ln a sound reproducing apparatus having a swinging tonev arm, a motor board, a turntable to carry. records and a motor to revolve said turntable, an automatic stop comprising a pivoted friction member adapted to make contact with said turntable to prevent rotation thereof, means tending to rotate said friction member to eective position, a pvoted paWl engaging said friction member to bold said friction member in ineffective position, an arm traveling with said tone arm and adapted to engage said pawl to cause it to release said fiction member,

and means Carried by the motor board to arrest the travel of said arm and bold it clear of the tone arm when the latter is swung to initial playing position. l v

3. V[n a sound reproducing device having a swinging tone arm, a motor board, a turntable to carry records and motor to revolve said turntable, an automatic stop comprising a pivoted friction member adapted toy make Contacty With said turntable to prevent rota tion thereof, means tending to rotate said friction member to effective position, a pivoted `pavvl engaging said friction member to hold said friction member in ineffective position, an arm traveling with said tone arm and adapted to engage said paWl to cause it to release said friction member, and an abutment `on the'motor board permitting lpassage of the tone arm but arresting movement of said arm to hold said arm clear of the tone arm When the latter is swung tol FRANK omni-ST. 

